Research for a book - finer points needed

[5129frederick]

I'm in the very early stages of writing a book set in 1955 to present.  According to statistics average cost of a house was £1500.00 and a working wage was somewhere in the region of region of £9.00 per week.  What I need to find out are the finer points i.e. price of a pint of stout, or that of a cup of tea.  It too me the best part of an evening to get this far.  Typed in average costs UK and it still gives everythin in dollars as if America was central to the world.  How do I find the finer points to what I need?  I don't want to put a cup of tea at twopence ha'penny if that was the cost of a loaf of bread!

[right-then-petal]

set goggle to uk

[right-then-petal]

http://www.google.co.uk/#gs_rn=14&gs_ri=psy-ab&cp=11&gs_id=kx&xhr=t&q=1955+prices&es_nrs=true&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&oq=1955+prices&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.47008514,d.d2k&fp=1506d14106f2ebad&biw=800&bih=434

😄

[suzieseaside]

Price of a pint of beer 9 1/2 old pence (milk 3 pence a pint)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/interest-rates/3392660/Interest-rates-1955-when-interest-rates-were-3-per-cent-and-Grace-Archer-died-in-a-fire.html

Maybe you could try contacting a museum that displays life in the 50s and ask them if they can direct you to any historical information about costs of everyday items.

Eg. This one in Bristol  http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8376000/8376893.stm

[cee-dee]

More here:-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertyadvice/propertymarket/3311446/The-good-old-bad-old-days.html

[cee-dee]

Oh, "don't believe everything you read in the papers" either.

Because...... you could still buy a good house for £300 and a few years later when slum clearance went on, some owners only got £50 for their house.

I used to enjoy reading through the old deeds of houses I bought and the house price inflation for many years was very low. It's a shame that houses are now registered as the bit of paper you get is abysmal compared to the sheaf of old deeds you used to get.

[charliebird123]

Quite a few experts on the subject here....

http://www.beamish.org.uk/